The great American university : its rise to preeminence, its indispensable national role, why it must be protected

Bibliographic Information

The great American university : its rise to preeminence, its indispensable national role, why it must be protected

Jonathan R. Cole

PublicAffairs, c2009

1st ed

Available at  / 8 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 521-580) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Although Americas universities have become the envy of the world for their creative energy and their production of transformative knowledge, few understand how and why they have become preeminent. This groundbreaking book traces the origins and the evolution of our great universities. It shows how they grew out of sleepy colleges at the turn of the twentieth century into powerful institutions that continue to generate new industries and advance our standard of living. Far from inevitable, this transformation was enabled by a highly competitive system that invested public tax dollars in university research and students while granting universities substantial autonomy. Today, Americas universities face considerable threats. Even greater than foreign competition are the threats from within the United States. Under the Bush administration, government increasingly imposed ideological constraints on the freedom of academic inquiry. Restrictive visa policies instituted after 9/11 continue to discourage talented foreign graduate students from training in the United States. The international financial crisis, which has depleted university endowments and state investments in higher education, threatens the vitality of some of our greatest institutions of higher learning. In order to sustain and enhance the American tradition of excellence, we must nurture this powerfulyet underappreciatednational resource.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

Page Top